Changing Fates: The Philosopher's Stone
by jalisial
Summary: A 'Reading the Books' fic. Before the events of The Vanishing Glass, Albus, Remus, Sirius, Harry, Ron, and Hermione all appear in a room to read seven books and have the opportunity to change things. RL/SB.


**This is one of those generic 'reading the books' stories but I will not be posting most of the stories in it. For long periods of time where they don't say anything while reading, I will just post the first word, have elipses, and then the last few words, and give you some idea what just happened. This is to prevent the story being taken down. I will assume most of you have the books and can read along. **

**This one will ONLY have Remus, Sirius, Albus, Harry, Ron, and Hermione, and will also include Wolfstar. **

* * *

In a room outside of time and space, in which the fates controlled, there appeared seven books and two people. Brushing themselves off, the two men looked around the room, and, recognising each other, walked over to each other.

"Where are we, Albus?" the younger man said.

"I'm sorry, my dear boy, but I do not know," Albus replied, as a note appeared in the younger man's hand. Together, they read:

_Dear Albus and Remus, _

_I know you are confused, but the fates have conspired to change events. A poor orphan stands to lose too much in an upcoming war. While we usually stay out of things, we have decided that it is too much for the orphan and for others surrounding him to go through. _

_You will be joined by four others to read seven books about this orphan's life. The first one to join you is someone you are both familiar with, and we ask you to hear him out before you do anything. We warn you that magic will not work for you hear. This man is Sirius Black. Hear him out, we beg of you. _

_The other three to join you will be Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger. Why they will be there will become apparent as you read these books. _

_There will be food and beds provided for you, and when you have finished reading these books, you will all be sent back exactly where and when you came from, and you can begin to change events as they are in the books. You may have to strategize carefully, however. _

_When you finish reading this note, Sirius Black will appear, and once you have heard him out, the other three will come, too. _

_The fates. _

Albus and Remus shared a confused look when they heard a pop and looked around to see Sirius standing there, ragged in his Azkaban clothing. At his appearance, Remus saw red, forgetting what the note had said, and ran at him, pushing him to the floor.

"You! You betrayed James and Lily! How could you do that?" Remus screamed.

"Remus, please," Sirius rasped out, "It wasn't – we changed Secret Keepers. It was Peter." Remus drew back, but still looked at Sirius suspiciously.

"No. You killed Peter after you betrayed James and Lily. You're the reason James and Lily are dead. You're the reason Harry is an orphan," Remus spat. Sirius closed his eyes.

"Remus… I never should have changed to Peter, but it was him. He tricked us all. He transformed into his rat form after cutting off his finger. He betrayed them. He betrayed us," Sirius said.

"Then why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you tell Albus?" Remus said, "Don't you try this."

"We wanted everyone to believe it was me, and…"

"You didn't think you could trust me," Remus finished, "But what about Albus?"

"If he believed it was me… look, I wish I could change it, but I can't. Every single day in Azkaban I've been thinking about what I could have done differently, how I should've trusted you, how I should've suspected that _rat_," Sirius said, almost begging.

"If I may," Dumbledore interrupted, "What do you mean by rat?"

"Back at school they all became Animagi so they could be with me during my transformations," Remus said quickly, "So what Black is saying… I don't know."

"The note did say to hear him out," Dumbledore reminded Remus.

"We're stuck with him here, anyway," Remus said. Sirius flinched slightly at the venom in Remus's voice.

"You don't believe me," Sirius said.

"It's hard for me to believe," Remus said, "But I'm sure there's a reason you're here." Now that his head was clear, he was able to think about it a lot more. Sirius nodded. It was as good as he was going to get at the moment. If only he hadn't been so stupid.

There were three more loud pops, and three children appeared, two of them instantly screaming, while the small dark-haired boy looked around curiously.

"No, calm down, calm down," Remus said, "I know this is a shock, but they… oh, you won't believe this. The fates have brought us all together."

"That doesn't make sense," the girl said matter-of-factly, now she had stopped screaming. Remus shrugged, as another note appeared. He handed it to the girl, who read it.

_Dear everyone, _

_Now that you are all here, you can begin reading the seven books which are about a certain Harry Potter. In doing so, we are hoping you can change certain things in your future. _

_Hermione and Harry, the important thing you need to know before you read these books is that magic is real. It will all be explained in the books. We know it may be hard to believe, but we hope you will accept it. _

_No magic can be done in this room, and, as has already been explained to Albus and Remus, food and beds will be provided. After reading, you will return to where and when you came from. _

_Please keep in mind that these books are only the future if you let it remain unaltered. We hope you do alter it. _

_The fates. _

"This is utterly ridiculous," Hermione said, shaking her head.

"Perhaps, but it seems we are stuck here until we finish reading these books, so perhaps we should being?" Dumbledore suggested. Five hears nodded in agreement, and soft armchairs appeared for them all to sit in. Albus took the first book, and opened it.

"This book is called 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'," Dumbledore said, and began to read.


End file.
